The present invention generally relates to the field of computer networks. A network is a distributed communication system of computers comprising user terminals and at least one server, the computers of which are interconnected by various electronic communication links and computer software protocols. A particularly well-known network is the internet. The internet is a world-wide network whose electronic resources include among others text files, graphic files in various formats, world-wide-web pages, etc. The scheme for denotation of an electronic resource on the internet is an electronic address which uniquely identifies its location within the network and within the computer in which it resides. On the internet such an electronic address is called URL (universal resource locator).
According to the state of the art, when a user is subscribing with a network service provider, one unique address is assigned to him. Of course, when subscribing a plurality of contracts, one user can have a plurality of different unique addresses. However, when the user has logged in with one of said several addresses, and the other addresses assigned to the same user are not in a logged-in state, no message or notification from a server or another user terminal can be forwarded to the user, when the notification or message is addressed to one of the addresses which are in a non-logged-in state.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a communication method and a communication system (network) according to which one user can have a plurality of addresses without encountering the above-cited disadvantages. The method and the system according to the present invention provide for a possibility to address a user with a second address assigned to him even in case the user has logged-in with a first address assigned to the same user.
Thereby it is the central idea of the present invention that a plurality of different unique addresses can be assigned to one user, wherein at least one server of a network knows which addresses belong to the same user and can therefore for example send a notification of new mail in another personality to the user though the new mail is dedicated to another address of the user than the address the user has logged-in.
According to the present invention therefore a communication method for a network comprising at least one server and a plurality of user terminals is provided, wherein the user terminals can share information which each other and with the at least one server by means of the network and each user can be accessed by means of an unique address. A plurality of different unique addresses can be assigned to one user. A corresponding assignment information for each user is stored in a table of the server. The assignment information enables the server to associate a plurality of different addresses with the same user.
Messages can be sent from the server or a first user terminal to a second user terminal. When the user of the second user terminal has logged in with a first of the plurality of addresses assigned to him, the server checks the table containing the assignment information and a message is also sent to the user of the second user terminal, when the message is sent to another address assigned to the same user than the address the user has logged in with.
Respectively one profile is associated to one of the plurality of addresses assigned to one user. The profiles can contain characteristics or preferences and/or interests of the associated address and can be stored in a data base of a profile manager.
The data base of the profile manager can be stored on the server.
Preferably the data base of the profile manager is stored in an object-oriented approach on the server.
Respectively one home page is created and associated with one of the plurality of addresses assigned to one user, the home page being stored on the server.
The different addresses assigned to one user respectively can belong to another one of a plurality of user groups predefined by and stored in the server.
On the server a group data base can be provided containing different predefined groups, preferences and/or interests of each group as well as the user addresses which are a member of the corresponding group.
According to the present invention furthermore a communication network is provided comprising at least one server and a plurality of user terminals. The user terminals thereby can share information with each other and with the at least one server by means of a network and each user can be accessed by an address. According to the present invention a plurality of different unique addresses can be assigned to one user. The server comprises a table storing an assignment information. The assignment information enables the server to associate a plurality of different addresses with the same user.